Sugar Alternatives

danlen

hey guys,
just wondering what's your opinions on a healthy alternative to sugar to sweeten food. I know about low calorie artificial sweetners such as Splenda, but I am a bit skeptical of these. I don't really use much sugar, just a bit with my porridge in the mornings, so what could a switch to that would be better for me. Maybe honey? Is that a healthier alternative? Any suggestions would be helpful.

corkcomp

danlen wrote: »

hey guys,
just wondering what's your opinions on a healthy alternative to sugar to sweeten food. I know about low calorie artificial sweetners such as Splenda, but I am a bit skeptical of these. I don't really use much sugar, just a bit with my porridge in the mornings, so what could a switch to that would be better for me. Maybe honey? Is that a healthier alternative? Any suggestions would be helpful.

for porridge I would use a small handful of dried fruit, you will get a lot of other nutritional benefits over plain sugar ... Splenda is ok too but in the long term you are better off trying to wean yourself off the idea of needing to "sweeten" food ....

Serafijn

I put cinnamon in mine (on the suggestion of another boardsie :P ) and it gives it a nice flavour without adding any calories. A small drop of honey or syrup is also good, especially if you overcook it in the microwave and need to loosen it up

cozmik

Blackstrap molasses is a healthy sweetener very rich in nutrients such as iron, B vitamins, calcium and potassium. It's not as tasty as maple syrup or honey which makes it a bit less versatile but it works pretty good in porridge.

EileenG

Agave syrup is supposed to be a good alternative, very low gi.

My father grew up eating his porridge with a knob of butter and no sugar at all. Interested in trying that. Porridge with a little salt tastes just as good as with sugar.

Not a fan of artifical sweeteners. There is research that implies they interfere with your body's ability to judge how much you've eaten. When you eat something sweet, it expects calories. If it doesn't get them, it doesn't trust itself to know when you've eaten enough.

cozmik

EileenG wrote: »

Agave syrup is supposed to be a good alternative, very low gi.

low gi but very high in fructose!

People tend to think that fructose is a benign sugar, because it is named for fruit (because it was first discovered in fruit). But fructose is only one of the sugars in fruit and it occurs in rather small quantities, very unlike the high concentrations of fructose found in any manmade refined sugar (and IMO, even the raw, unheated agave syrups *are* processed and refined, as they are processed with enzymes and not found in nature, nor are they something that previous generations would have made).

Fructose in high concentrations or frequently ingested in high amounts, is very damaging to the body. First, if it isn’t burned immediately for energy, it goes to the liver, where it is converted to triglycerides, the very same fats in the blood associated with heart disease if chronically at high levels (and also accociated with the small lipoprotein particle size, also not considered good). High amounts of fructose on a constant basis can contribute to Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) which even children are getting now from all the fructose in their diets.

Secondly, the excess triglycerides are often stuffed into the fat cells, increasing insulin resistance, thereby increasing insulin production to very high levels, and contributing to the development of diabetes in a “back door” fashion.

Third, and worse, is that fructose contributes greatly to AGEs (advanced glycated endproducts), which are proteins that have inappropriately attached (without enzymes) sugars (wikipedia has great info on this plus one of my husband’s colleagues researchs glycation). Fructose is the worst for this. It sort of gums up the proteins so that the cell is damaged (sort of caramelized) so the cell can’t properly function (it literally ages faster). This is the cause of much of the damage in diabetic complications. Ironically, diabetics have been advised to use fructose for sweetening simply because it doesn’t directly cause a glucose or insulin spike. But indirectly, it does massive damage.

http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/01/my-dark-secrets.html

All of the rest: honey, maple syrup, etc. contain a mix of both glucose and fructose.

Doolee

*Bubble Bursts*

...And here's me...diggin into my blended mixed berries with a little Agave added for good measure while reading your post Cozmik, thinkin I was great and had discovered this little gem of a sweetner!

*attempts to inflate bubble*

So is it safe to say Cosmik - though I know its a quote from another thread - that its only in larger doses that Agave can affect you in such a way. In other words, 2 teaspoons on your porridge gach maidin wont kill ya and is a billion times better than any artifical sweetners (which are created in chemical labs and not kitchens) and better than honey or sugar.
*Still inflating...*
Gillilan McKeith recommends it as do raw foodies.

Basically Im hoping your wrong (though I know your probably not) cause I love the stuff!

*holds bubble up and waves it about*

cozmik

Doolee wrote: »

and better than honey

I wouldn't say it's better than honey but it should be ok in small doses.

Basically Im hoping your wrong

About what?

EileenG

Absolutely agree about the fructose, but I've got tired of ducking any time I try to suggest that it's not the healthy option. I nearly got lynched recently when I mentioned this to a saleswoman who was telling everyone that something with fructose was "sugar free and totally healthy".

However, since agave is so sweet, I'm assuming you'd use only a very small amount.

EileenG

Absolutely agree about the fructose, but I've got tired of ducking any time I try to suggest that it's not the healthy option. I nearly got lynched recently when I mentioned this to a saleswoman who was telling everyone that something with fructose was "sugar free and totally healthy".

However, since agave is so sweet, I'm assuming you'd use only a very small amount.

jdivision

EileenG wrote: »

a saleswoman who was telling everyone that something with fructose was "sugar free and totally healthy".
.

Oh dear, that stuff literally sticks to you